


Air (Mattress) Catcher

by headfirstfrhalos



Series: Sidewalk Sleepers [2]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Fluff, M/M, air mattresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4190313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headfirstfrhalos/pseuds/headfirstfrhalos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Air mattresses are magical things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Air (Mattress) Catcher

The air mattress had been sitting in a box in the back of the bus for god knows how long. Tyler wiped the dust off and smiled at the dinged-up cardboard after pulling it out from a pile of old things. The dust motes flew up into the late afternoon light flooding in from the window, casting an oddly angelic glow on the plain thing. He vaguely remembered it from a few years earlier, when they had first started touring and the cruddy bunks and hotel beds made their backs ache. He and Josh stopped at a Walmart and got it for twenty dollars at three in the morning, somewhere in Kansas or one of the Dakotas. Tyler couldn't really remember. There was just a lot of corn. That mattress, as cheap as it was, saved Josh's and Tyler's nights (and spines). It was tucked away once they were able to afford better buses and rooms, and there it had stayed, forgotten, in its little corner until now.

"Hey, Josh!" he called.

"Yeah?" Josh answered from the bus's mini-kitchen. 

"I found the air mattress."

Josh poked his head past the little wall separating the bunks from the kitchen.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Josh took his noodles from the microwave and headed to the back.

"Dude, so  _that's_ where it went. I thought we lost it," he says, setting the noodles down on the coffee table. He admired it, smiling at the same memories he shared with Tyler.

"Do you wanna use it again? For old times' sake," Tyler said. 

"For sure. Just don't push me off, okay? You kick a lot."

"I can't make any promises," he says with a smile.

Tam, one of the crew members, knocks on the door and reminds them that they had to go to their sound check in five.

* * *

There was seriously nothing better than changing into your pajamas after a long shower. Being able to flop down onto a bed after that was amazing. Josh sighed at the ceiling, listening to another band play off in the distance. The sun had set long ago, and the flashing lights from the shows made shadows dance along to the music.

The air mattress was as comfortable as Josh remembered. The smell of plastic, the squishiness, the soft fabric rolling into little pills, and the electric motor wheezing away like an asthmatic old man all added up to a nostalgic experience. It was the simpler days given a physical form. 

He heard the water shut off. Tyler must be done showering. He came out a few minutes later in his boxers and undershirt. He looked at Josh, sprawled out on the air mattress, and smiles.

"Comfortable?" he asks, voice shot from singing.

"Mm-hm."

"Did you dry your hair?"

"Nope."

"Josh."

"What?"

"Roll over."

He obliged, a little confused. He'd assume Tyler was going to join him if he didn't spot the weird little glint in Tyler's eyes that he gets when he's about to do _something_. Josh is on the edge of the mattress, staring at his best friend, worried about what he was planning to do.

"Three."

Tyler took a step back. Oh no. He knows  _exactly_ what he's going to do.

"Tyler-" he tried to negotiate. 

"Two!" he said, running at the bed. 

"Don't!"

"ONE!" 

He leaps into the air, dive-bombing the mattress. Josh can feel his guts shift inside him, and he's absolutely _launched_  towards the ceiling. He can hear Tyler dying of laughter beneath him, and Josh wants to scream. He hovers for a second, and gravity suddenly remembers him and slams him back down onto the mattress. Tyler, who seemed to have forgotten that what comes up must come down, widened his eyes when Josh's impromptu kamikaze attack sent him rocketing up in return. He flopped back down onto the bed and turned his head to look at Josh. They were silent for a moment.

"Sick air, bro," he said.

"Dude, you gave me a heart attack," Josh said, smile crawling up his face.

"It was a heart attack of  _fun_ ," Tyler said.

"What does that even mean?"

Tyler shrugs.

"We're headed for Boston tomorrow, right?" Josh said, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Amy says we should get to sleep now so we won't be too tired." 

"Well, I'm tired now."

Tyler laughed. "Me too."

Tyler walked over to the switch, flicking off the lights before joining Josh. Their legs tangle together.

"We don't need a blanket, right?" Tyler asks.

"Nah."

"Okay then. G'night Josh."

"Night, Tyler."

 

**-20 MINUTES LATER-**

 

"Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"We forgot to brush our teeth."


End file.
